Internal tube puller



Aug. 7, 1951 G. EDWARDS INTERNAL TUBE FULLER Filed April 19, 1948 v67.27272 Edwards YMW;

Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,563,675 INTERNAL TUBE FULLER Glenn Edwards, Memphis, Tenn. Application Apriii-il, 1948, seriaiNo. 22,009

This invention relates to pipe or tube pullers.

An object of this invention is to provide a puller whereby pipes or tubes for-med or relatively soft metal may be removed from their supporting plates without damage to the tube or to the plate. As an example, condenser tubes are usually formed of copper, brass or other soft metal, and as the outer ends of thesetubes are swedged or upset to seal the tubes in the supporting or head plates, it is a difiicult matter to remove the tubes without damage thereto oruto the head plate. In the case of boiler tubes it is also quite 'diflieult to pull the tubes without damage thereto. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a tube puller which will firmly grip the tube from the inside thereof in such a manner that the tube will not be injured and at the same time the gripping force will increase in proportion to the pulling force and to the resistance of the tube.

Another object of this invention is to provide a puller of this kind wherein the pulling force is in axial alignment with the axis of the tube and of the clamping or gripping means so that the latter will not be tilted under the action of the pulling force.

A further object of this invention is to provide a puller of this kind which will readily conform itself to the size and shape of the tube.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawing and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a detailed side elevation of a pipe or tube puller constructed according to an embodiment of this invention, showing the puller in its initial inserted position with respect to the pipe or tube,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation partly in section; of the device in pulling position,

Figure 3 is a detailed inner end elevation of the device,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral I0 designates generally a tube which is mounted in a plate of head II, the tube Ill being extended through an opening [3 in the head or plate II and the outer end of the tube being upset as indicated at l2. The tube l0 may be of the type used in condensers or the like and. in such devices the tube In is formed of metal such as copper, brass or the like.

In order to provide a means whereby the tube 1 Claim. (01. soc-es) ll] may be pulled from the plate ll without in jury to the tube, .1 have provided a puller which includes complementary tube clamping of gripping members M and I5. These clamping members fl 4 and are of elongated construction and as shown .in Figure 1 the clamping member [4 is of tapering construction and has the larger end t5 thereof innermost. The clamping member 15 has a small end 11 thereof innermost and when the flat confronting faces 18 .and I 9 of the clampingior wedging memberslld and I5 are disposed in contacting relation, the two clamping members- M :and l5 'will be substantially round in trans= verse section as a unit. i

The clamping member or wedge I5 is secured to a block 26 having an elongated handle 2| extending right angularly therefrom. The outer end of the clamping member I4 is secured to a block 22 and the two blocks 20 and 22 are formed with confronting fiat faces 23 and 24 respectively. The block 22 comprises the movable portion of the wedge assembly and has secured thereto a hook 25 embodying a relatively long shank 2B. The hook 25 is so disposed with respect to the two blocks 21] and 22 that when a pulling means is engaged with the hook 25, the pulling force will be substantially in a plane colinear with the longitudinal axis of the tube [0.

The outer or peripheral surfaces of the clamping members [4 and I5 are of like construction and are formed of blunted threads 21, thereby forming spiral surfaces 28 adapted to engage the inner surface of the tube In. The provision of the flat surfaces 28 eliminates any cutting of the interior of the tube as the wedge member I4 is pulled outwardly and tightly wedges itself and wedge member l5 within the tube [0. The inner ends of the wedge members [4 and I5 are provided with smooth portions 29 and 30 respectively which form a plug of a diameter slightly less than the interior diameter of the tube Ill. These smooth portions 29 and 30 are designed to remove any scale or the like which may be disposed in the tube l0 so that when the wedge members l4 and I5 are disposed in w'edging position they will contact with the metal of the tube 10 instead of any scale or accumulation on the inside of the tube. In other words, the plug members 29 and 30 form a means for scraping the interior of the tube H! as they are moved inwardly to operative position.

In the use and operation of this device the two blocks 20 and 22 are disposed in face abutting relation with the wedge members I 4 and 15 in contacting relation as to their fiat faces l8 and l8. These wedge members l4 and I5 are inserted in the tube 10 to the limit provided by the blocks 20 and 22 as shown in Figure 1. The handle 2| will provide a means whereby the small wedge member l5 may be manually held against movement during the initial pulling of the device so that when the hook 25 is pulled and wedge member 14 moves outwardly a slight distance to a positionsubstantially as shown in Figure 2, the Wedge member I5 will not move with wedge member I4. As a pulling force is applied to the hook 25 and to the movable wedge member [4, a tight gripping or clamping force will be applied to the interior of the tube l0 so that the gripping surfaces 28 of the wedge members will tightly grip the inner surface of the tube. The tube is pulled endwise after the manner shown in Figure 2 and due to the relatively long gripping surfaces provided by the wedge members l4 and 45, the pulling force required for removing the tube ID will not distort or expand the tube.

This tube puller has been placed in practical operation and has been found to more readily remove tubes from condenser walls or plates than prior devices and at the same time the tubes will not be damaged and if necessary may be reinserted in the condenser walls. It will, of course, be understood that this puller may also be used for pulling other tubes such as boiler tubes or the like, as well as condenser tubes I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed but claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A tube puller comprising a pair of oppositely tapered wedge members adapted for insertion within a tube, each of said members having an arcuate outer surface and a fiat inner surface, the inner surfaces of said members inrconfronting and contacting relation and on an angle to the longitudinal axes of said members, the outer surface of each member being formed with spiral threads having blunted peaks, an enlarged block having a securing handle extending horizontally therefrom fixed to the large end of one of said members, and a second enlarged block fixed to the small end of the other of said members and REFERENCES CITED 'The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number v 7 Name Date 229,325 Luther June 29, 1880 463,048 Hanlen 7.- Nov. 10, 1891 832,364 Burton Oct. 2, 1906 872,940 Holmberg Dec. 3, 1907 2,249,585 Thomure July 15, 1941 

